Connecting-jack for telephone-switchboards.



c. E. SMITH. CONNECTING JACK FOR TELEPHONE SWITUHBOARDS.

APPLICATION PILBD DBO. 30. 1804.

Patented Feb. 2, 1909.

6a., WASHINGTON, n. I:v

UNITED STATES PATENT onnron CHARLES H. SMITH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,ASSIGNOR-TO KELLOGG SWITCHBOARD AND SUPPLY COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLIYOIS",-

A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 2, 1 909.

Application-filed December 30, 1904'. Serial No. 238;.920.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it hiownx that I, CHARLES SMITH, a citizen of the United States,residing'in Chicago, countyo'f Cook, and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful improvements in CcnnectingeJa-ck's forTelephoneSWitchboards, of which the fol-lowing is a specification. 4

My invention-relates to springj'acks for telephone lines, one" of myobjects; being to provide a jack which presents a better appearance thanis usual upon the exterior of the switchboard and which is simple andconvenient to mount and assemble.

Another object of invention is toconstruct a jack frame which is formedof one piece of integral m'etal and which has offset side braces,whereby the upper and lojwer jack contacts may be readily. observedfromthe opposite sides of thejack, the forward part of the jack being'madedouble,"whereby suflic'ient thickness for threads'is obtained, andwhereby strength and rigidity are secured. j

It has been common heretofore to secure the jack frameto' theswitchboard by th-imbleinserted" from the exterior and threading intothe jack frame upon the inside of the board. In order to readily turn .i

so the said thimblfe to screw it into position it has been usual toprovide it with a'hex agonal orirregularhea'd to which a suitable wrenchmay be easily applied for-turning the same, and still another method wasto" groove the head diametrically so that a screw driver mightbeiusedinstead' of a" wrench. These forms and in fact all such irregularforms are objectionable for the reason that when a number of jacks areclosely mounted in rows in a -switchb'oard thegrooves across the headsof'the' thimbles or the sides of the hexagonal or-irreg'ular' heads donot stand parallel and an unsyi'nmetrical appearance of theface of theboard is presented.

Inmy invention'r provide the headof the thilnble with a circular edgeand smoothfface so that whatever final position may be" given to thesame the face'of the' s'w-itchboard presents an even and symmetricalappearance. I further prefer to provide means for positively grippingthe thimbles when they are to be screwed into position. 7

Further objects of the invention will appear from the detaileddescription and jack provided with a modified thinible; Fig; form ofthimble in Figs; 1 and Z, and F 1 0 is a" face View of a section ofib'oard provided with such individual jacks and jack'thimbles mountedclosely inrows'.

claims, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawing, in which thesame reference'charact'ers arejused throughout to designatelike parts,and in which:

Figure 1' is a' side view of a combined selfresmringdmp and jackembodying my improvements; Fig. 2 is a front view of the device-shown inFig. I Fig. 3 is a face View of such combined. self-restoring. drop andform of thi'1nble';' .FigL l is a bottom plan view of 1 the-jackframe;Fig; 5 is a side view of the frame with all parts detached; Fig; ,6 is abOi'ifiCfiIpl aJ T view of the same; Fig. 7 is a 1 front View of thejack frame; Fig. 8 is an isometric view of one form of the jack 9 is asimilar view of the a switchgplied to a combined self-restoring dropjack but as will be pointed out later it may he employed inconnectionwith" individual jacks and n especially designed for use fa'ctsai'dthimbles' are more where the jacks are mounted close and therefore thethimb'les I In these figures 2 designates the together.

1nounting strip, the usual drop 3 being-1 cafed upon the face of thestrip while the 'drop rel'easing'magnet} 4 is placed upon the rear ofthe same in the ordinary way. Thejack frame which is shown divorced fromother parts infl igs. 5 and 6 consists of'the two side members 5 and 6,theend piece 7 integral therewith, and the forward end pieces 8' whichare formed of the folded ends of the side pieces 5 the frame areprovided with alined threaded apertures 10,- the forward fold of thefront being provided with a suitable steady pin 11.

In order to secure the'frame thusconsti'tuted to the switchboard ormounting strip as the case niaybe'a suitable thimble 12is providedhaving a head 13 and a threaded inner end 14 adapted to screw into theaperture 10.

Thus with the 'jaclr frame' n the rear of the board and the thimbfleinserted from the front thesai'd frame clamped in position upon the rearface of the board, the said steady pin .11 at the same time entering anaperture provided for the purpose.

, It willbe noted that the edge of the head 13 of the thilnble iscircular in outline and and 6'. The front pieces 8 of as v is thusunbroken and regular and that the face of the head is a plane face freefrom grooves or other irregularities. It is possible to tighten such athimble without any special provision for the same, as by means of asuitable mandrel tightly fitting the bore of the thimble, but I preferto employ some positive means for gripping the same, one way ofaccomplishing this being indicated in Figs. 1, 2 and 9, wherein a smalland shallow notch 15 is formed in the wall of the bore of the thimble atits forward end and a suitable tool is provided to enter the bore andhaving a projection adapted to enter the said notch. These notches arenot noticeable on a full sized switchboard and can be seen only after acareful inspection, this being due not only to their small size but alsoto the fact that they are in the inside rings of the thimbles instead ofin the outside edges. Another mode of accomplishing the same result isillustrated in Fig. 8 wherein 16 indicates an aperture drilled throughthe side wall of the thimble and it may extend through both, a suitabletool again being employed to enter the bore of the thimble and theaperture 16 and thereby to grip the thimble and enable the same to beturned home. It is obvious that many other modes of gripping the thimblemay be provided for. When such thimbles are mounted in a switchboard asin Fig. 10, therefore, the notches if the kind shown in Fig. 9 beemployed, do not by their irregular locations cause an unsightly andunsymmetrical appearance of the board, and of course if the thimble ofFig. 8 or an entirely plain one is used, there is nothing to mar theappearance of the face of the board.

The end 7 of the jack frame supports the usual springs, they in thisinstance including the springs 17 and 18, both being secured theretowith suitable insulating strips by the screws 19. The spring 18 extendsforwardly through the mounting strip to engage and restore the drop 3when a plug is inserted in the jack. Suitable terminals are arranged atthe rear to connect with the magnet coil and to connect the instrumentand its springs in the desired circuit. lVith respect to the portion ofmy invention relating to the thimble any type of frame may obviously beemployed.

Vfhile I have thus described my invention with specific reference tovarious practical ways for carrying the same lnto execution, I do notwish to be limited in all respects thereto since various modificationsand alterations may be made therein and still come Within its scope andpurview. But

Having thus described the invention, what I claim and desire to secureby Letters Pub cut is:

1. A spring-jack frame comprising a. shelf, to the under side of whichthe jack springs are secured, supporting members therefor, one extendingalong each side of the jack, said side members being bent at rightangles across the front of the jack frame and folded one upon the otherand having alined openings through the folded portions thereof, and athimble extending through said openin to support the jack frame,substantially as described.

in a spring jack,thecombination with a pair of horizontally disposedjack springs. of a frame therefor having a horiyonially disposed shelfat the. rear of the frame on the under side of which said springs aresecured, side members for said frame formed integrally with the shelfand being arranged one on a higher level. than the other, whereby thelower jack spring may be inspected from one side of the jack and theupper jack spring may be inspected from the other side of the jack, saidside members being folded one upon the other at the from of the jack togive sniiicient thickness for rigidly supporting the jack frame,substantially as described.

3. A spring jack comprising a supporting frame having a portion at therear thereof for supporting the jack springs, side mcmbcrs formedintegrally therewith and disposed one above the other in parallel planesalong the sides of the jack frame, a mounting strip and means forsecuring said frame to the mounting strip, substantially as described.

1. A spring jack comprising a supporting frame formed of side membersdisposed in parallel planes, :1 spring support at the rear of said frameformed integrally with the side members, a mounting strip, a thimble forsecuring said frame to the mounting strip, said thimble being adapted toextend through the mounting strip and to thread into the forward end ofsaid frame and having an opening within its bore adapted to be engagedby a tool for assembling and disassembling the jaclr, substantially asde scribed.

Signed by me at Chicago, county of Cool: and State of Illinois in thepresence of two witnesses.

CHARLES H. Sliiil ill.

Witnesses Ronnn'r LEWIS Aims, EDITH F. GRIER.

